The Cat, the Curious and the Coin
by Denigoddess2001
Summary: Ruby Brandon, collectables store owner, followed a clairvoyant dream to New York to purchase an ancient British coin. When magic is afoot then then runs amok, unexpected antics ensue. One isn't always sure what to do when life gets in the way when one is trying to do other things.
1. Chapter 1

Saga: The Cat, the Curious and the Coin  
Story: Exact Change. Chapter 1  
Fandom: Gargoyles  
Genre: Supernatural/ Drama  
Rating: PG  
Characters: Ruby Smith, Crystal the Cat and six very large Gargoyles.  
07/26/2013 2:30AM

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GARGOYLES. THEY BELONG TO DISNEY. NO PROFIT WANTED FOR THIS FICTION. NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. ALL ORIGINAL CHARACTERS IN THIS FICTION ARE PROPERTY OF DENIGODDESS2OO1.

New York is NOT my kind of town.

The 24/7 hustle and bustle of the place was more than my poor senses could take with all of the endless traffic and rustling of people. I am not a simple woman, but I find that I'm suited temperamentally for a simpler life. There is only one thing wrong with that fact: life is never simple. Simple is great in theory, but life gets in my when I try to plan other things. Ce la vie, such is life.

I own a small collectables store that has been in my family for four generations. It was founded by my great-grandmother, Anna, in 1920 and passed on to her daughter, Belle, in 1960. After that, it came to my mother, Jade, in 2000. Tradition stated that the women in the Brandon family owned the store for twenty years before passing it to the next generation. That tradition ended abruptly when my mother died of congestive heart failure a year ago. Now, as the next in line, I am the current proprietor of Curiosities.

I remember well that summery weekend in New York when I sat in an uncomfortable chair in some auction house, attending the estate auction of a distant relative that I had never met. As the auctioneer called out new sums, bidders discreetly raised their hand to signal their bid. I knew enough to keep my hands firmly folded in my lap unless I wanted to pay for a lamp garbed in a stiletto and fishnet hose with a tacky, beaded lampshade.

Oh, how I craved a margarita and a cigar at that moment. Give me some relaxing jazz and a classic Cary Grant movie and I would have been in Heaven. Instead, my backside had gone numb and I was surrounded by a motley group of antique hunters, greedy collectors and a few rich-looking socialites. However, I was there for a reason: I had a dream.

No, I'm serious. I had a dream and I pay attention to them. I dreamed about coins, an apple tree and an auction house called Authur's. Nana Anna, my great-grandma, told me to always pay attention to my dreams because that was when magic was afoot. Grahams Belle, aka grandma, told me it was how the Universe hit obtuse people upside the head with a magical brick. Mom refused to believe in the mystic and said it was the subconscious processing the information from the previous day. Me? I'm still reserving judgement. However, I knew enough to pay attention to them because the dreams had by my ancestors often were portents of things to come.

The item that I wanted most was a tenth century British coin that had made it's way into my cousin's coin collection. The auctioneer made the comment that it had once belonged to the elusive billionaire, David Xanatos. I surveyed the bidders as each held up their hand in turn as the bids started at a thousand dollars, then increased incrementally. I also placed my bid, knowing that somehow that coin was important, but wasn't sure why.

Surprisingly, few people seemed interested in it and it became my for the tidy sum of three thousand dollars. The dream told me that I had best buy the coin, but dreams are hardly straightforward, so now I had to figure out why it was so important that I buy that one small circular coin. I went to the cashier afterward and paid for my purchase. An employee of the auction house discreetly handed me a small wooden box, intricately carved with flowing knots and other symbols.

"I'm sorry, there must be some mistake," I said to the blonde cashier sitting at the table in front of me. "I purchased a coin circa tenth century."

"No, Ms. Brandon, no mistake," he nodded to the box I held. "It came in that box and I have specific instructions that it must remain in it until it is in the hands of it's new owner."

"I see," not seeing at all. The ice king sitting before me looked as though he were irritated by my question. I opened the box and looked at the small coin laying on a bed of plush black velvet. It showed the Latin writing used during that era and the likeness of an ancient king named Ethelred. It was the coin from my dream all right and I knew better than to question the dream.

I left the auction house with a faint feeling of anticipation which is unusual for me. Something was afoot with this coin and I didn't know what to make of it, all I knew was that I wanted out of New York and to get home to Merlin's Grove. I wanted to walk the brick-paved streets of my hometown and get back to Curiosities and my cat, Crystal. Large cities held no attraction for me.

I took the first flight home from New York and arrived late at night at the Lincoln airport. I live in an apartment above Curiosities and I had since I was a child. It felt good to be home and Crystal met me at the door, meowing loudly as I shut the door behind me. After feeding her and taking a hot shower, I decided I needed to know more about this silly coin that I had been compelled to buy. Nana Anna kept her kitchen book, Grahams Belle had a Book of Shadows, Mom wrote things down in her poetry books. Traditions run strong in my family because I followed suit as my ancestors did and I kept a journal. I also knew how to access the most powerful oracle of the age. I logged on to Google.

Other than knowing the coin was minted in the tenth century, the only other piece of information I had that I thought relevant was that it had once been owned by David Xanatos. Per the marvelous search engine, I found an article on in Forbes that gave his age as 58, married with one son. His estimated worth was a few billion, give or take half a million dollars. I also read that he had been connected extensively to the New York urban legend of gargoyles.

Gargoyles? The stone statues carved on buildings? He had a fascination for them.

Interesting tangent, I thought. I searched 'New York Gargoyles' and there were several pages listed. I clicked on link after link, reading each one with growing enthusiasm. What I found out interested me more with each new article. A tabloid called the Daily Tattler carried the most stories about them and I also found a few video clips of them, but all were dated in the mid to late nineties and nothing after September 11, 2001. It was as if they had disappeared. One later Tattler article speculated that the group of monsters, or heroes as some considered them, were killed in the attacks.

I wanted to know more.

I decided enough with the technological and it was time to get down to the mystical. Unlike my mother who was agnostic on the matter, I believed in the power of Nature around us. I'm a Wise Woman as was my grandma and great grandma before me. I don't summon spirits or invoke gods. In fact, I only believe in one. However, the Creator endowed the world with many secrets and any curious human can find them out if one only takes the time to listen to Nature.

A little sea salt and a bottle of mineral water from the dollar store along with a silver bowl were all I needed. Carefully, I opened the box and I thought better of it not to touch the coin directly. I put in a pinch of sea salt in the bottom of the silver bowl and filled it with the mineral water and said a little rhyme.

"What I see that was and shall be

let the truth come obviously

Purify my eyes to see

the past of this coin which interests me."

I pulled the coin from the box with a pair of salad tongs from the utensil drawer and plunked it into the small silver bowl. I watched the water remain still or several seconds, a growing feeling a disappointment coming over me. Then, I heard a pop! I returned my gaze to the bowl to see the water fizzing and bubbling as though I had dropped some kind of antacid tablet in it and watched the water change from clear to vivid blue. At that point, Crystal hissed, her tail lashing back and forth. I watched as she leapt from the floor into my lap, her claws digging into my tee shirt and jeans. The old Tiffany chandelier above me flickered and sounds of footsteps echoed of the apartment walls and I thought the table shook as if I were in the middle of an earthquake. I grabbed the tongs, dipping them in the silver bowl and pulled it from my sea salt and mineral water solution, quickly dropping the coin back in the wooden box. I slammed shut the lid. The shaking stopped, the water quit bubbling over, and the lights quit flickering.

Then, I noticed the lid of the box. It wasn't as pretty as it had been when I had packed it for the trip home earlier in the day. This time it sported four claw marks embedded deeply at a angle across the lid.

I gulped. Then, it came.

The headache always comes first when a vision comes to me followed by a little nausea. I reached across the table for my purse where I kept my generic headache relief, again thanks to the local dollar store, and popped a couple in my mouth. I stuck the box in my purse just so I wouldn't drop it and I closed my eyes.

I heard rending of something as though it were being torn apart. It didn't sound like the screeching metal makes, but more the breaking of stone. I saw six large figures atop a stone wall, almost like a castle wall, facing the the east. I looked over my shoulder in the vision and saw the sun setting in the west along the Manhattan skyline similar to what I had seen earlier that day when I had left Arthur's Auction House. I felt shards of something pelt my skin, causing nicks and abrasions, so I covered my eyes to avoid injury. Well, with a purse on one arm and a cat in the other, that didn't happen as planned.

"Return me to reality

from the place from which I came.

Let this vision now be over

and in that place remain."

Silence fell over me as if I had turned off a loud television or radio. I felt Crystal's sandpaper tongue licking my arm where one of the shards of something had cut me. I knew I was still sitting down because I felt the antique chair beneath me, but something wasn't right. The air didn't smell like it did in apartment, a combination of overcooked TV dinner and incense. Carefully, I opened my eyes.

I wasn't sitting at my dining room table. I was sitting in the middle of somewhere else with a castle wall less than twenty feet away from me. That wasn't the frightening part. The part that made my bones melt and my stomach do flips was to see six pairs of white-hot glowing eyes staring down at me, growls erupting from winged figures that looked like a cross between angels and demons.

"Crap," I muttered, wondering why my magic had turned tragic. "Gargoyles."

I knew I wasn't in Nebraska anymore.


	2. Chapter 2: Change of Scenery

Saga: The Cat, the Curious and the Coin  
Story: Chapter 2: Change of Scenery.  
Fandom: Gargoyles  
Genre: Supernatural/ Drama  
Rating: PG  
Characters: Ruby Brandon, Crystal the Cat and six very large Gargoyles.  
07/27/2013 11:08pm

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GARGOYLES. THEY BELONG TO DISNEY. NO PROFIT WANTED FOR THIS FICTION. NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. ALL ORIGINAL CHARACTERS IN THIS FICTION ARE PROPERTY OF DENIGODDESS2001.

I looked upward at the figures tower over me and counted each in turn. Each varied in size from what I estimated as my height of five-seven to well over seven feet tall. The one closest to me was about my height or only a few inches short and looked as thought he/ it had been dunked in khaki-colored paint. Bald with bulging eyes, he reminded me me of bug-eyed alien that I had once seen in a cheesy science fiction film. The one next to him looked as though he could have been a Cornhusker fan. One doesn't see many red-skinned creatures walking around unless said creature is sprouting horns and a tail; this one had both and a beak to match. One was a husky creature who's waistline reminded me of who enjoyed food too much and the one next to him appeared female. Tall, statuesque and gray, I couldn't tell if she was a harpy or Medusa; I only knew that I didn't want to find out which she more resembled. I noticed her eyes gleamed red rather than white and found that , in that instant, oddly fascinating. One of the Gargoyles looked older than the others, as if he had been around through one two many tragedies with long lines etched into his face and a nasty, jagged scar marring one eye.

However, it was the silhouette that stood at the back of the group that made my eyes grow wide as saucers. He loomed over the rest of them, imposing in his statue and menacing in his gaze as he stared down at me with eyes glowing like opal embers. If I could have been burned by his gaze, I would have been turned to ashes in that moment. Low growls filled the air and I knew that I had trespassed where no outsider was meant to be. Here, I was the invader and they were once that were put upon. I just wanted to be put upon the first vision back to Nebraska because this one was entirely too realistic for my mind to accept. I wondered if I had just found myself a one-way ticket to paradise and said a quick prayer to the Almighty to let me go quickly.

"Oh crap," I grumbled. "Gargoyles."

"Yes, lass, Gargoyles," the older one said. I turned my head in shock. Since when did Gargoyles sound like Mr. Scott off the Enterprise?

Eying them each in turn, I wondered why they hadn't torn me to shreds. From the few clips of them that I had seen on one social media channel, I recognized the one that had been dubbed by the press as Goliath. I remember in high school had it had been a brief fad to wear Gargoyle tee shirts and Gargoyle-themed music. There had even been been a romantic film made called Gargoyles where a human woman had fallen in love with one who looked very much like the monolith standing in front of me.

"Mamasita mofo," I whispered, willing my body to remain in control of its basic bodily functions.

"Who are you? Where did you come from and why are you in our castle?" His voice, deep and resonant, reverberated off the stone walls.

I swallowed the annoying lump lodged in my throat. It took all my courage to keep my eyes locked on his as I struggled to answer. "I'm Ruby Brandon, I'm from Merlin's Grove, Nebraska and I don't have a clue why I'm here."

I knew I wasn't having a vision in my living room, not unless it suddenly came in full IMAX 3-D glory. Something had gone away when I had said the rhyme, but I didn't know why. I repeated the incantation with the hope of getting me out of my psychic nightmare.

"Return me to reality

from the place from which I came.

Let this vision now be over

and in that place remain."

_'Let this vision now be over and in this place remain_.' The words echoed in my head as a classic mistake that only a rookie might make. Semantics made the difference. I had asked that I remain in the source of my vision rather than be freed from it. I decided to try it again.

"Return me to reality

and to the world that is my own

Before said vision, return me to whence I came

and let me go back home."

I waited for the headache and nausea to overwhelm me as they always did when I came out of a vision. Nothing happened. Instead, I sat surrounded by six creatures looking as if they wanted to rend me limb from limb.

"Ruby Brandon," Goliath's voice carried a stern undertone. "We don't appreciate a sorceress trespassing in our home and we suggest you leave."

"I'm trying to," I snapped, shrugging helplessly. "Something's wrong. That rhyme always brings me out of my visions."

"Are you a sorceress, lass?" the oldest gargoyle asked me. "Do you mean us harm?"

"Harm? No." I sighed in exasperation. Dealing with creatures other than humans is a tricky business. Some once were human and became something else, some look like humans but never were and there are those who detest humans because they can never be ones themselves. Humanoid doesn't mean humanlike, only appearing as such. When all else fails, try a little honesty. "I own a curiosity shop."

"What's a curiosity shop?" asked the one who looked like a green olive minus the pimento.

"A curiosity shop sells just about anything that someone might be curious about: antiques, collectable brickabrack, a few New Age things or some old metaphysical things, herbs, incense. It's a little bit of everything, really. I came to New York today to buy an old coin because I had a dream and I felt compelled to do it. When I tried to find out more about the coin, the ritual got went haywire and poof! I ended up here."

"Do you have this coin now?" Goliath asked.

"I do," I reached into my purse and withdrew the ornate wooden box. I slowly kept my eyes on them as I held it out for them to see.

The eldest gargoyle stepped forward, holding out his hand. "May I see the box?"

I eyed him cautiously. Compared to the others, he seemed the most reasonable out of the lot. I considered my options and they all had wings, talons and fairly angry expressions. He was my best one. "Sure."

He took the box in hand, turning it over to examine the bottom then running his talons slowly along the top. He opened it, examining the coin inside it. He was about to reach for it when I yelped, "Don't touch it."

His hand stopped in mid-air and six tails lashed quickly back and forth, reminding me of Crystal when she was less than happy. She looked at me, then at them and the fur on her back stood on end. "Why?"

"There's some magic to the coin, that much I know and I'm not sure what it is," I said. "Touching it may do something unpleasant. When I tried to use it in a scrying-"

"Scrying?" the red one spoke for the first time. "That's something a sorceress does."

"I'm no sorceress," I said, offended by the word. "I don't wrap myself up in pomp and circumstance and strut around like a peacock."

"Are you a witch?" The frank question from the red one startled me. He leaned forward and sniffed. I think that if he'd had a nose, he would have wrinkled it. "She smells like turkey and gravy."

"That's what I had for dinner, a la Healthy Choice cuisine," I blurted. I rose from the chair, circling him. "And I'm no more a witch than you're a pterodactyl."

"Ruby Brandon, why are you here?" The old one asked.

"I told you," I began, shrugging helplessly. "I had a dream about a coin. It was vague, surreal as dreams usually go. I know that I felt compelled to follow the vision and I did. Now, I'm somewhere I didn't mean to be."

"Let me see the box, lass." The old one held out his hand to me. I looked at the tan gargoyle, wizened and marked by age. Out of all these strange creatures, I felt he was the most trustworthy. I considered my choices: try to run and I became dead meat. Antagonize these guys and I was dead meat. Reluctantly, I handed him the box.

I watched him examine the box, turning it over to look at the bottom and then upright, running his talons lightly along the intricate designs. He studied it carefully, making no sound as he inspected it. He flicked it open with one talon to study the coin inside it. "Aye, I recognize this. Xanatos showed this to me once and told me the tale about how it let him travel into the past back to our original home. But, how could this coin help you?"

"My shop is struggling," I sighed. "It came from the estate of a distant relative that collected coins. When I had the dream, not many people know that it's worth about twenty grand. I want to sell it, pay off some debts to get the store in the clear. Curiosities has been in my family for almost a hundred years and I don't want to lose it because of back property taxes."

The old one looked at the tall Gargoyle furthest back from me. "I don't believe the girl means us harm, but may be a pawn in something bigger. But, I am no Archmage."

"Archmage?"

The old one turned to Goliath. "Look at the box. Do you recognize these symbols?"

Goliath took the box from him, turning it over as the old one had done. "These are symbols that I have seen on Avalon, but what do they mean?"

"Lass, where are you from?"

"Merlin's Grove, Nebraska. It's a little town about three miles away from Lincoln."

"Lass, when are you from?"

"I don't understand the question," I looked at the tan gargoyle, not understand his strange phrasing.

"What is the year?" he asked.

"2014," I answered.

"Nay," he stroked his beard in contemplation. "it isn't."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it isn't." I watched the red one's wings fold over his shoulders so they draped over them like a flowing cloak. "It's 1997."

"Right," I drawled, wondering if anyone manufactured straight jackets for insane gargoyles.

"Goliath, she nuts," the red one scoffed. "She thinks she's from the future."

The group looked at each other with glances, but no one said a word. I could almost hear the silent conversation being held through expressions without one word being uttered. The woman is a witch and she's a crazy one. The old one laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Can you prove to us that you're from the future?"

"Do you have a name?" I asked the old one. "It's awkward to have a conversation when I don't even know your name."

"I'm Hudson," he gave me a polite nod. "But, back to the question, can you prove to us that you're from the future?"

"Sure," I reached inside my purse and pulled out my cell phone with every intention of showing them that day's date, including the year, on my phone. I stared at my smart phone and my momentary feeling of triumph faded. The screen read 'no signal.' I showed him my driver's license. "It was issued to me in 2011 and is good until 2016."

"Those can be forged," the little green hobgoblin piped in for the first time. "Not hard to do."

"Well, if it's 1997, then the World Trade Center Towers would still be standing," I said. "They were destroyed September 11th, 2001 in a terrorist attack."

"Well, Red, hate to burst your bubble," the red one smirked at me. His tail pointed over the castle wall. "There they are."

"Impossible," I retorted. "They were blown to smithereens."

"Hey, just saying," he nodded towards the castle wall. "Look for yourself."

I walked past the group a few steps to study the skyline. It looked like typical New York, skyscrapers against a black velvet sky illuminated by a golden halo of light. What I saw took away my last breath because if someone had told me, I would have thought them to crazy. Against the light of a full moon stood the Twin Towers, tall and intact, as an integral part of the horizon.

My breath caught in my throat. My heart stopped. "Oh, crap. I'm not in Nebraska anymore."

"You're not in 2014," Hudson said gently. "It's 1997."

My stomach decided to fight for space in my throat at that moment as my heart fought to beat. Whatever else was going on, I knew I was in over my head. It was more than what my mind possessed for ability to process and so it did what it must to protect me. It shut down and everything turned black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Saga: The Cat, the Curious and the Coin  
Story: Chapter 3  
Fandom: Gargoyles **

**Genre: Supernatural/ Drama Rating: PG Characters: Ruby Brandon, Crystal the Cat, six very large Gargoyles and Owen Burnett**

**All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of Denigoddess2001**.

****************  
**  
**_**Previously, on Gargoyles...**_**  
**

"Well, if it's 1997, then the World Trade Center Towers would still be standing," I said. "They were destroyed September 11th, 2001 in a terrorist attack."

"Well, Red, hate to burst your bubble," the red one smirked at me. His tail pointed over the castle wall. "There they are."

"Impossible," I retorted. "They were blown to smithereens."

"Hey, just saying," he nodded towards the castle wall. "Look for yourself."

I walked past the group a few steps to study the skyline. It looked like typical New York, skyscrapers against a black velvet sky illuminated by a golden halo of light. What I saw took away my last breath because if someone had told me, I would have thought them to crazy. Against the light of a full moon stood the Twin Towers, tall and intact, as an integral part of the horizon.

My breath caught in my throat. My heart stopped. "Oh, crap. I'm not in Nebraska anymore."

"You're not in 2014," Hudson said gently. "It's 1997."

My stomach decided to fight for space in my throat at that moment as my heart fought to beat. Whatever else was going on, I knew I was in over my head. It was more than what my mind possessed for ability to process and so it did what it must to protect me. It shut down and everything turned black.

My head felt as though it had collided head-on with a MAC truck. Jolts of pain throbbed in my temple and something akin to a drum solo pounded between my eyes in the middle of my forehead. I let out a string of expletives that sounded more like gibberish than profanity. So, I reverted my good ol' stand-by of, "Mamasita mofo."

"Ah, you're awake, " a slightly nasal voice commented. I slowly opened my eyes to be blinded by bright fluorescent light which was neither soft nor natural. Quickly covering them, I growled. Shading my eyes to survey my surroundings, I saw a lean man sitting at my bedside. If the voice belonged to him, it certainly matched his looks which were far from handsome and closer to weaselly.

He had perfectly coiffed medium blonde hair, not one hair out of place that framed a high forehead and an thin, long face. His deep-set eyes were light blue, mostly gray and his rimless glasses rested on a skinny, angular nose that was, at least, in proportion to the rest of his features. He had thin lips that probably had never cracked a smile followed by a a rather narrow chin framed by a strong jaw. I noticed that he was dressed in a navy double-breasted blazer, power tie in classic red, and navy trousers. He looked too familiar for my comfort and I searched through every recently memory I had, trying to remember where I had seen him.

Chickapow!

He was the cashier at Arthur's Auction House who gave me the coin and the box. There was no coincidence; there was something definitely amok and I planned on finding out. I realized that I also was without my glasses, but saw them on the end table beside me. I reached for them and put them on, hoping that I might get a better view. I used them primarily to cure my astigmatism, but a simple rhyme, I knew, would expand their usage.

"Now, I'm awake, but can't really see. Come closer, Sir, so my glasses will tell me."

One blonde brow quirked in surprise when I said the words. I waited. Spells take time and aren't all flash and bang, most are subtle and simple as I preferred them. I blinked a few times as the man shimmered before me, surrounding for an instant by a silvery aura that quickly vanished. I intended to see his past, perhaps get a name or brief glimpse of his history. I wasn't expecting to see a levitating man with long platinum hair and vivid blue eyes nearing the color of the sea. I looked over my glasses and saw only the repressed executive, but looking through them I saw someone with arched brows and pointed ears.

"Clever girl," he commented wryly, a small smirk tugged at his tight smile. "Spontaneous spellcasting. I must admit, this is a surprise."

"Okay," I knew whatever he was, he wasn't human. My spells work best when I have a focal device to augment them such as a silver bowl for scrying or common eyeglasses for true seeing. I struggled to sit up in the bed, but found myself weaker than I thought. "What is your name?"

"You can call me Owen Burnett," he said, offering his hand. I knew well enough not to touch a magical item if I didn't know it's abilities. I sure as hell wasn't going to shake this guy's hand until I knew exactly with what or whom I was dealing. I ran through my options. Demon? No, this "man" appeared in true form through my glasses and was far too cute. Definitely, not an angel because his aura wasn't golden. He was too big to be a pixie or sprite and certainly not a leprechaun. What did that leave?

"Elf," I grumbled, managing to sit upright. I rolled my eyes because elves are notorious tricksters and occasional fiends.

"I prefer Owen," he quipped, straightening his glasses, quite offended that I didn't shake his hand.

"What have I done to you to deserve being dragged through time and being dumped amongst a bunch of grumpy gargoyles?"

He chuckled softly at my comment. "Why, nothing, Ms. Brandon. Why is it that you think that you've been singled out when your sudden journey is nothing more than happenstance?"

"Elves never are around when 'happenstance' occurs," I never took my eyes from him. I looked around the room, taking in my surroundings. Stone walls rising a story well above me with narrow windows allowing in what looked like sunlight. Richly colored tapestries adorned the walls and near the bed was a fireplace. I looked down to find myself in a long, white nightgown but saw my clothes neatly folded on a chair on the other side of the bed. "I'll be honest, I'm no match for you and I'm too weak to fight. If you want the coin and the box, take them. Please, just let me get back to my own time."

"Unfortunately, I can't help you," Owen made a downward motion with his hand down his body. "While human, I have no powers to with which to assist you. I can assure you, Ms. Brandon, you are here purely by accident. You haven't been destined or chosen, simply misfortune."

"Then, I would like to know where my cat is and I'll leave," I said, pushing aside the covers. "I have to find a way to get back to my own time because I don't belong here in 1997."

"You are doing quite well in 1997," Owen smiled. "You're a junior in high school with hopes of becoming a History teacher with plans of attending the University of Nebraska upon your graduation in 1998. Your mother, Jade, is the successful proprietor of Curiosities in Merlin's Grove with plenty of money saved to send you to college. You have a solid B average and enjoy your classes in History, English and Music. However, your grades in Chemistry and Algebra are average and you require a tutor twice weekly just to maintain a 2.5 GPA in those classes."

"I thought you didn't have any powers?" I asked.

"That isn't magic, Ms. Brandon. That information came from one of the security personnel at Xanatos Enterprises that did a background check on you," Owen offered his hand to me to help me out of bed. What he said was true enough; a background check would easily have found that information about me.

"So, why haven't I been kicked to the curb since the Gargoyles thought I was trespassing?" I reached for my clothes. "Where can I change?"

"You can change in the lavatory to your left," he motioned to the door across the room. I still felt weak.

"Thank you," I said grudgingly and went to change my clothes. I closed the door behind me, switching out of the antiquated nightgown and into my newly-cleaned tee shirt, undergarments and jeans. I slipped on my tennis shoes and as I was tying them, I called out, "So, why haven't I been kicked out of here, wherever here is?"

"Because of your cat, Crystal, Ms. Brandon." came Owen's answer through the closed door. "She gave quite a convincing argument that you should be given the utmost hospitality and quite frankly, I agree."

I tucked my tee shirt into my jeans, then pulled it out slightly to give it a more relaxed looked. Opening the door, I looked at him. "Explain much?"

"You're cat is quite the remarkable creature," Owen said with obvious respect. Oh, if he only knew! "She is a Kellas cat."

Mamasita mofo! He knew. Kellas cats were mystical creatures, rare in this day and age, from the Scottish Highlands. Beautiful and mysterious, a Kellas cat was truly one of the Cat Sith, of the cats of the Fae who haunted the Scottish Highlands. They often haunted the Highlands with their wailing cries and were rumored to have once been fairies or witches turned into cats.

"I know," I said, realizing that it's much harder to remember lies than it is to tell the truth. Besides, if Owen were truly an "elf," my unsavory term I preferred instead of the politically correct "Fair Folk" or "Child of Oberon," then that meant he was able to do harm to me if it suited him. Yes, legend had it that Oberon commanded the Fae not to intervene directly in mortal affairs, but that didn't stop them from finding a loophole and meddling.

"How did you find her?" Owen asked.

"I found her being abused as a breeding cat at a kitten mill," I recalled how the local news story had broken what would be several years from that moment. "The Humane Society had a hard time finding a home for a cat that large, but since I lived outside Lincoln city limits and Merlin's Grove has no laws against having exotic animals other than having approval from the local Justice of the Peace in our little town, I was able to adopt her. I'm as much her human as she is my cat."

"And she agrees," Owen smiled. "But, you didn't know at the time her true nature, but you gave her love and shelter. She remembers that kindness and feels she owes you some sort of loyalty. Quaint."

"I absolutely love her," I said truthfully. "She has been a better friend than most humans I know."

"She thinks the same of you," he told me. "Do you know her tale?"

"Some," I looked at a sitting table across from me and picked up a silver comb to comb the tangles from my hair. "I don't have the ability to speak with animals, per se. Through a few spells and some gift she possesses, Crystal told me that she was exiled from her home because she missed curfew."

"That is certainly an interesting perspective," Owen chuckled. "She defied Lord Oberon's decree for all Children to return home, and for her defiance, he imprisoned in the form she currently holds."

"He's a cruel son-of-a-bacchae, then." I snorted at what Crystal had experienced. "She was used as a breeding cat made to give birth to multiple litters of kittens. I hope he burns in-"

"Ah ah," he warned me, placing a finger to his lips. "Be careful how you speak in this place, Ms. Brandon. There are ears everywhere."

He had a point. Speaking badly of the Sidhe was a direct invitation for disaster and chaos and I should know better. "Where is she?"

"Asleep," he pointed to a velvet-cushioned cat bed near the fireplace where my large brown tabby lay on her back with her paws in the air, purring loudly.

"So, who were you really before you became Owen Burnett?"

"Now, if I told you, that would take all the fun out of it," I thought I saw those pale blue eyes twinkle merrily for a moment before they resumed their dull grayish-blue hue.

"If you know anything about me, Owen, you know I don't play games," I sighed, tired of the twenty-revelations-per-second conversation. "Please?"

"Puck," he said with a hint of sadness.

"Puck? As in trickster Puck from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream?'" I asked, not quite sure to believe him or not.

"Indeed," he smiled proudly.

"Can you help me get home, Owen?" I looked at him, wanting to return to my hometown and my little store in the year 2014.

"I'm afraid I don't have the ability to do that," he gave me a wistful smile.

"Is there anyway to get home, any way at all?"

"What does your heart tell you?"

"I'm not sure," I shrugged. "I don't know. I believe most things happen for a reason, but I'm not sure why this would happen to me."

"Maybe, it isn't all about you, Ms. Brandon."

I stopped in my tracks when he said that. Maybe, it wasn't about me at all. I turned around, pursing my lips in contemplation. I stared at Crystal resting peacefully in the luxurious basket that was probably worth more than what I made in a week at Curiosities. I walked over to the basket, looking down at her. She had seen me through the ups and downs of my store, a bad break-up with an ex-boyfriend, as well as several good times such as my buying my first home and paying off one loan at the bank. She had cuddled me when I was sad, soothed me when I was angry, shared joy with me when I was happy. After what she had been through and given what I knew about her at that moment, she deserved to go home.

"She's not truly a cat, is she?" I asked.

"You tell me, Ms. Brandon. What do you see?"

I studied the large brown tabby lying in the basket, large amber eyes opened and winked at me slowly in greeting. Looking down through my glasses, I repeated a slight variation of my rhyme. "Let me see truth that I can't yet see. Reveal yourself, Crystal, so my glasses will tell me."

For a moment, I saw the vision of a slender young maiden, willowy and lithe, move with the grace of a ribbon in the wind. Pale cyan skin that came from her mother with the flowing white tresses of her father. My cat, Crystal, was not just a Child of Oberon. She was truly the daughter of Oberon and Titania, rulers of the Fae. "Oh, Crap."

"Indeed, you have a challenge ahead of you, Ms. Brandon," Owen said. "It seems you have a journey to undertake more so than you anticipated."

"To where am I taking her?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"You will be taking her back to Avalon." Owen answered. "So, she can appeal to her father for forgiveness and be released from the bodily form that is her prison."

"Avalon?" I asked. "So, it really does exist?"

"It does."

"How am I to get there?" I gave a helpless shrug. "Damn it, Owen! I'm a kitchen witch, not a damned tour guide."

"Where there is a witch, there is a way. But, which way will you go?" he gave me another smirk and I could have sworn I saw a flash of Puck for more than a second or two. "But to boldly go which way no witch has gone before."

I gave him a scathing glance, shaking my head at the badness of his pun. I almost knew what he meant.

"Your background check said that you're an avid Trekkie," he gave me a smile.

"To boldly go. . ." I started thinking. I knew from the tales in front of the fireplace that Nana Anna and Grahams Belle had told me that the Fair Folk couldn't directly interfere in mortal affairs, but they could find a loophole or be asked. "I need a ship. I need help. I am formally asking you, Puck of Avalon, will you help me?"

He gave me a truly sad glance. "I would gladly help you, if only I could, but I'm bound by this mortal coil, you see, placed upon me by Lord Oberon for my own transgressions against his wishes."

"What if I could find a loophole?" I asked. Kitchen witches couldn't make fireballs or change people into frogs. We had to work with what we had and what we found in our environment. I'd worked with enough pixies and imps through the years to know that wording was everything. "If I could get you around the whole 'I'm-stuck-in-permanent-human-form' mode and get you back into to true Puck form, would that help?"

"I'd help you even if you couldn't," Owen nodded to Crystal. "I owe her more than you know and will do anything to make sure her well-being is insured."

I heard the tender note in his voice and saw the longing glance that he cast in my cat's directions. Seeing him look at Crystal that way at first struck me as creepy until I remembered the vision of the angelic beauty that I saw trapped within the body of a cat. "You're in love with Crystal."

"I am."

"Is that even her true name?"

"One of them," he said quietly.

"Okay," I said. How did one induce a Child of Oberon to do one's will when he already was more than willing? Trapped as Owen, he faced the same fate as Crystal and couldn't access his far greater magic to help me help her. How did I get around the trapped-in-the-wrong form dilemma? I simply had to find a way that weakened Oberon's power over Puck.

He looked like an uptight executive; a very sad, lovelorn uptight executive. Something in my mind clicked.

Executives have offices. Offices have office supplies.

"Where's your office, Owen?"

"It's several floors below us, but not far from us," he gave me a quizzical look. "Ms. Brandon, what are you thinking?"

"Child of Oberon, right?"

"Yes. . ." he said very slowly, obviously wary of what plan I was hatching.

"Take me there, please," I didn't ask, I politely demanded. "I have a plan."

"Now, that's what I'm afraid of," Owen opened the door for me and led the way. After a lengthy elevator ride and mediocre elevator music to match, we finally made it to office. I went to his desk and started riffling through his drawers until I found what I needed.

"A-ha!" I cried triumphantly, holding up a box of paper clips.

"Paper clips?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed happily. "They're made of steel wire. Steel is an alloy of iron, carbon and other alloys. Iron is the number one ingredient, Owen."

"I don't see how paper clips will allow you to help Crystal," he looked at me as though I had lost my mind and, perhaps, he wasn't wrong.

I started linking together the paper clips, one by one, until I had formed a very long chain about six feet long. "If I remember the old tales right, if a Child of Oberon is bound in iron chains, he or she is forced to do as I wish, right?"

"True, but those are paper clips..." he pointed at my slender chain and laughed.

"Let me wrap this around your waist and wrists and we'll see if it works,"

"I think when you fainted you hit your head too hard against the stone," he quipped. "But, you may try."

"And try I will," I had come up with crazier ideas than this. "I bet you even know the spell that will induce your compliance. If I say it, then you have to serve me as Puck. I give you my word that I won't ask anything of you that will exploit or endanger you in any way."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because, dude, you're in love with my cat and that's just downright creepy," I laughed. "If anyone on Avalon finds out about that, you're gonna be facing a lot of crap for a few centuries, but you'll be able to be there to take it and be there with her. Crystal did give me a great reference, you know."

"True," he said grudgingly. "Listen carefully and repeat three times, Ms. Brandon: Wrapped in Iron, thee I bind. What I command, my will becomes thine. Do as I bid, I demand of thee. What I wish make true as it shall be."

I did as Owen told me and after I finished, nothing happened. No flash. No bang. No bells or whistles. Just that horrible instrumental muzak being piped over the office intercom system. I gave a heavy sigh. "How do you feel, Owen?"

"Still human, I'm afraid."

I waited. I counted to ten. One. . .two. . .three. . .finally, getting to ten.

"Assume your true form as Puck," I commanded. "Please."


	4. Chapter 4: Change of Form

**Saga: The Cat, the Curious and the Coin  
Story: Chapter 4: Change of Form  
Fandom: Gargoyles **

**Genre: Supernatural/ Drama Rating: PG Characters: Ruby Brandon, Crystal the Cat, six very large Gargoyles and Owen Burnett**

**All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of Denigoddess2001.**

_**Previously, on Gargoyles...**_

I started linking together the paper clips, one by one, until I had formed a very long chain about six feet long. "If I remember the old tales right, if a Child of Oberon is bound in iron chains, he or she is forced to do as I wish, right?" 

"True, but those are paper clips..." he pointed at my slender chain and laughed. 

"Let me wrap this around your waist and wrists and we'll see if it works." 

"I think when you fainted you hit your head too hard against the stone," he quipped. "But, you may try." 

"And try I will," I had come up with crazier ideas than this. "I bet you even know the spell that will induce your compliance. If I say it, then you have to serve me as Puck. I give you my word that I won't ask anything of you that will exploit or endanger you in any way." 

"Why should I trust you?" 

"Because, dude, you're in love with my cat and that's just downright creepy," I laughed. "If anyone on Avalon finds out about that, you're gonna be facing a lot of crap for a few centuries, but you'll be able to be there to take it and be there with her. Crystal did give me a great reference, you know."

"True," he said grudgingly. "Listen carefully and repeat three times, Ms. Brandon: Wrapped in Iron, thee I bind. What I command, my will becomes thine. Do as I bid, I demand of thee. What I wish make true as it shall be." 

I did as Owen told me and after I finished, nothing happened. No flash. No bang. No bells or whistles. Just that horrible instrumental muzak being piped over the office intercom system. I gave a heavy sigh. "How do you feel, Owen?" 

"Still human, I'm afraid." 

I waited. I counted to ten. One. . .two. . .three. . .finally, getting to ten. 

"Assume your true form as Puck," I commanded. "Please."

"Still human, I'm afraid."

"I waited. I counted to ten. One. . .two. . .three. . .finally, getting to ten.

"Assume your true form as Puck," I commanded. He raised one brow at me as thought I had been insufferably rude. I sheepishly added, "Please."

I watched him, seeing the skeptical smirk on his face did horrendous things to my confidence levels. Here I was, a kitchen witch, attempting to find a loophole around a spell cast by one of the world's most magical beings. If I could find a way around Oberon's magic, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Oberon tended to find out things about like that, I thought. I had only heard the legends and until a few hours prior, I had only the legends of the Fae for reference. Brownies and pixies are relatively harmless, but having a full-grown Child of Oberon less than five feet away from me was a reality bender in my mind.

"Don't write me off so quickly," I replied. "these things take time. I'm not a flash fire bang and smash type of gal. I'm more of a slow-burner."

"I don't see how this," Owen held up his wrists loosely bound in paper clips for me to see. "is going to be powerful enough for you to temporarily suppress his Lordship's spell."

I saw a flicker; just a small spark as one might see from a cigarette lighter when the flint is struck but there isn't any fluid left to ignite a flame. I saw a faint blue aura emanate from the paper clip chain for a second or two and then, I watched Owen shift. How would I describe it? Magic often appears in such a way that the human mind finds difficult to interpret and I'm no different. At first, his human form shifted to the left as though it were a television picture experiencing bad reception, then reduced to thousands of miniature square pixels.

I watched Owen's pale blue eyes flash that vivid, bright aquamarine shade that betrayed the existence of the elf within. Now, it was my turn to smirk. "You were saying?"

Then, nothing. Still Owen sat in front of me as human as ever, but for a moment, I had seen the Puck.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"As if I have an itch in a place I can't reach," he admitted. "For a second, I felt like my old self."

"For a second, you were your old self," I told him. "I saw you as you truly are beneath that uptight guise of yours. I think I know the problem."

"And, pray tell, what is that, Ms. Brandon?"

"We need more firepower," I replied. "Is there a kitchen here in the building?"

"In the castle above us," his brow furrowed in confusion. "But, why do you need a kitchen?"

"Not a kitchen," I thumped the paper clip chain. "Just more iron."

His eyes widened slightly. "You're not very powerful, but you are clever."

"Iron weakens any Child of Oberon, yes?"

"Indeed," he nodded slowly. "However, what in a kitchen would be enough iron to strengthen the incantation?"

"You'll see," I promised. I wanted to keep this smarmy, uptight yuppie wannabee on his toes. It was fun outsmarting one of the most famous Children of Oberon. I admit it, it allowed me to stretch my magical abilities a bit.

We made our way up to the castle and based upon the light streaming through the windows, I knew it had to be, at least, late afternoon. "So, how long have I been here?"

"Since your unexpected arrival last night? Approximately twenty hours, give or take."

"Hmm," I considered the downside to time travel. I knew I wanted a change of clothes, a shower and a hot meal. I had almost no money on me and my cat was in need of a good meal soon. "Is there anywhere that I can clean up and get a good meal?"

"If you can break through Oberon's spell, that will be an amazing feat," he said dryly. "Do that and I will gift you what you need and more a thank you."

"If we can get it to work on you," I said, my mind creating a plan as I spoke. "Then, I'm going to try it on Crystal. She probably wouldn't mind walking on two legs instead of four."

We made it to the large kitchen in the castle and I wasn't disappointed. A large, industrial stainless steel gas stove graced one wall and a matching commercial-sized steel refrigerator sat next to it. Above the center island, several pots hung on a stylish rack and I went straight for them. Many were the run-of-the-mill pans one buys at high-end cooking stores, copper and ceramic. However, I saw what I had in mind. One old, heavy skillet hung behind the others, darkened with age and use. I found my mother lode: an old cast-iron skillet.

"Now, we're talking!" I knew my eyes must have glittered with triumph at that moment. A shot of euphoria coursed through my veins. I quickly removed it from the rack and sat it on the granite island. I started opening cupboards, looking for anything that I could use to amplify the power of my rhyme.

"Whatever are you looking for, Ms. Brandon?"

"My form of gunpowder," I answered. I grabbed a few spice bottles of everything I needed. I had struck culinary gold: bay leaves, garlic, mustard, a bit of thyme. I went to the mammoth-sized refrigerator, looking for what I knew cast a powerful spell. I found onion, green peppers, fresh mushrooms, grated cheese and eggs. "Now, we'll see what we can do about bringing forth your inner Puck."

"What are you going to do," Owen scoffed. "cook an omelet?"

"Exactly."

I saw a transistor radio on one of the granite counters nearby, so I grabbed it and plugged it in close to me. Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply, letting me become one with the kitchen. Not as cheesy as it sounds, my friends. This kitchen had a very masculine vibration to it and I needed to tap into the strength that was coming from the steel appliances and the granite counters. I nearly smelled the stone as I drank in the psychic emanations left by its main chef. Mental images of the burly, teal gargoyle wearing a chef's hat and apron made me smile because he looked so adorable cooking for the gray female that I had first seen after my arrival.

I turned on the radio to a station playing some wonderful 90s hits that put me in the right mindset. One of the the wonderful things that I learned from my Mom was that music can be a powerful component in magic. It doesn't have to be all New Age chimes and drums. Rock, pop and even country can add to the power of a spell if it enhances an ambiance. So, I turned on Alanis Morrisette and had at it. I told Owen to have a seat and I commenced conjuring.

I drew up a good flame on the stove and place the cast iron skillet in it. I poured in a little olive oil and I began chanting the rhyme over and over, singing the words to the melody of the each song that played in succession on the radio. As I chopped garlic, onions, peppers and mushrooms, I visualized that it was Puck sitting beside me instead of Owen Burnett. After adding a little milk and cheese to the mixture, I added the vegetables and other ingredients to the heated skillet. I threw in a pinch pepper, a dab of garlic powder, some bay leaves and a dash of sea salt and some mustard.

"I don't understand how cooking eggs will break Oberon's spell," Owen looked at me, perplexed.

"Not break it," I corrected him. "It's just a way around it. If you're wrapped in chains, you still have to do as I command you. The omelet just give me some serious 'umph' when I recite the incantation."

"So, Ms. Brandon," he said. "Tell me how your quaint kitchen witchery works."

"Egg is a sign of rebirth and renewal," I explained. "Garlic and mustard are classic ingredients for spell-breaking and transformation. Mushrooms have long acted as a portal to other worlds and have a strong connection with the Fae such as yourself. Onion is good for protection and also good for enhancing a spell's power."

"I must say, Ms. Brandon," Owen leaned forward, inhaling deeply of the deliciousness cooking in the skillet. "it smells delicious."

"Inhale and get hungry because you're going to eat it. I hope you like eggs." I smiled, turning the omelet one last time before removing it from the skillet and slipping it onto a plate. "The iron of the skillet should magnify the spell enough to give it the amps it needs."

Crystal hopped onto one of the stools surrounding the island, her tail lashing with excitement. Yes, Crystal likes eggs. I scooped a small serving for her onto a small saucer with a bowl of water sitting beside it. I went to Owen, unbound his wrists and rolled up one of his shirt sleeves up to his elbow. I re-wrapped the long chain along one of his forearm so he had complete freedom of motion. I served him a glass of orange juice and he took it readily.

"If nothing else, I get a delicious meal out of the process," he said, giving me the first genuine smile I had seen grace his face. He seemed less weaselly and more handsome.

"You should smile more often," I commented as I watched him dip his fork into the omelet that I had made. "Eat, Owen."

He took a bite, slowly chewing the food and appeared to be savoring the flavor. I heard a satisfied "mmmmmmm" escape him as he scooped another bite onto his fork and into his mouth. In a few moments, most of the plate was empty and I knew it was time.

"Close your eyes, Owen," I instructed him. "Inhale the scent, the aroma of the tastiness, enjoy the full taste your tongue and how the flavors work together. Feel the different textures as you chew your food. Listen to how your stomach grumbles in satisfaction."

"Not a problem, Ms. Brandon."

"Now," I said softly as I walked behind him, placing one hand on each forearm. "Imagine yourself as you are truly within, not as Owen Burnett, but as Puck of Avalon. Can you see it?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"Wrapped in Iron, thee I bind.  
What I command, my will becomes thine.  
Do as I bid, I demand of thee.  
What I wish make true as it shall be.

"This guise you wear is but a glamor  
a facade you no longer need.  
You are Puck of Avalon, be ye true flesh  
as in thought and deed."

I felt a heat form between the palms of my hands where I held the delicate paper clip chain; a pale blue glow coursed slowly through the chain, one clip at a time until the glow reached his wrapped forearm. The glow extended further, deepening in hue until it was a brilliant aquamarine. The flames engulfed him, surrounding him in an inferno of color before it reshaped into a sphere of rose and pink. He rose from chair, levitating above me and rotating slowly in the air several times. Small ears grew larger, protruding out into large points. His limbs shrank and became graceful appendages while his hair lightened and lengthened until snowy tresses flowed about him.

He slowly glided around the kitchen, bounding off the walls in a way that made the pots and pans clang loudly against one another. I watched as the lithe, acrobatic elf danced in midair before finally settling in a semi-crouch atop the granite counter. He tugged lightly at the paper clip chain, giving me a large grin.

"You, Ms. Brandon," his voice more pronounced with a Continental brogue bordering on a lilt. "have amused and intrigued me. Now, that you have me bound and I must serve you. What is your wish?"

"The chain is symbolic, Puck," I said, offering the end of it to him. "I only wanted to bring you out of your Owen shell, not coerce you to do my will."

"Ah ah ah," he wagged his finger back in forth in warning. "Let loose the chain and you let go the power you have over me. I can only be in this form as long as I am compelled."

"Can you change Crystal back into her original form?" I nodded to my cat eagerly licking up the last remnants of her omelet.

"Why can't you?"

"I can cast spells with help through vessels that can focus my abilities, but I don't have the kind of power you possess," I admitted. "Let's face it, I'm not exactly a powerhouse of magic. Now, you, on the other hand, are a walking arsenal."

"Let's see what ol' blue eyes can do," he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Are you commanding or asking?"

"Asking," I said. "I don't have any desire to compel you to do anything."

He cleared his throat, nodding his head to me. I didn't know if it was in agreement or gratefulness, but I was eager to see a Child of Oberon at work.

I watched his eyes become shining orbs as he welled the magic within him into a powerful burst of energy.

"In this time and in the hour,  
I call upon the ancient power.  
As you are, be so no more.  
Be thy true self, Elvin-born."

Crystal, sitting on the stool, sat up on her hind legs, staring at me. Her eyes flashed green, then amber as she grew in size where she sat. That same green flame surrounded her body until she was surrounded by the same fire that had consumed Puck. This time, lightning arced through the air, bouncing off the pans, the appliances so much that I hit the dirt to avoid becoming a crispy critter. I crouched as closely to the side of the island of thunder roared in the kitchen and the air was filled with the sweet scent of ozone and a floral scent akin to lilacs and freesia. I heard a cat yawl and I knew that my poor feline must be in great pain. The sound deepened in tone into of a woman's scream and I froze.

Silence.

_Wait for it_, I thought. I counted slowly one. . .two. . .

Suspense and curiosity got the better of me until I couldn't wait any longer. I carefully peered over the granite counter top of the island to see what I could see.

A lovely woman, petite and shorter than me, sat on the stool where Crystal had sat. Her long white hair flowed over her shoulders almost to her waist, delicately pointed ears protruded through her hair and her skin was the pale aqua hue that I had seen in my earlier vision of her. She was stunning.

And also naked as a newborn child.

"My love," I heard Puck whisper. I watched his jaw drop a few inches and his eyes grow wide with amazement. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, Darling," her throaty voice purred. _Must be a carryover from her being a cat for so long_, I thought. "How I have missed you."

Slowly, I stood up watching the two as they embraced. Embarrassed by being a voyeur at such an intimate reunion, I discreetly turned around so they had some privacy as they kissed. I knew that they'd forgotten about me and as it should be for the time being. I proceeded to help myself to some of the omelet because I hadn't had a decent meal for almost twenty-four hours and I was hungry.

A few minutes later, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned around to see Crystal garbed in a long flowing gown that clung to her body, making me feel grungy in my day-old outfit. "Hello, Ruby."

"Hi, Crystal." What does one say to a princess of Avalon? "How do you feel?"

"Free, at last."

"Now, what happens?"

"We have to find a way to send you home," she smiled. "You've done Puck and I a great service at a high cost and we haven't forgotten your sacrifice. We wish to show you our heartfelt thanks for your participation in our reunion. What can we give you?"

"A way home," I said.

"Unfortunately, that is beyond Puck's power and mine," she sighed. "Only Father can do that and he is on Avalon and we are banished from our home. Soon, he'll know what you've done and our escape from his constraints and he'll be after all of us."

"If he's your father, then he also loves you," I countered. "He's a Dad and would probably love to see you."

"He's also stubborn, petty and vindictive," Crystal's bitterness laced her words. "Still, your finding a way around his punishment might amuse him and you do seem to have a way of thinking your way around challenges. He might be lenient enough to forgive our transgressions."

"That still doesn't help me get home to 2014," I said, sadness building inside me with each word. "Please, help me."

"You did send out the dream to all witches in the world to find the one to break his spell and you found this little one," Crystal said. I thought her patronizing tone was more than a bit offensive, but decided to stay quiet. "She has been kind to me, my Darling. Can't we find a way to send her home?"

"She ruined the coin's magic when she dunked it water for her scrying spell," he shook his head. "It won't work the same way twice."

"Then, I'm stuck here?" Panic stuck thick and gooey in my throat and I fought the urge to choke.

"We will make a good life here for you as you did for me," Crystal gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You've been a good friend and companion to me these many years and I haven't forgotten your compassion when my father turned his back on me."

"He doesn't have to find out. You don't need to tell him," I said. "Just point me in the right direction of something that might help me get home and I'll figure it out on my own. Somehow, I'll get back to my time."

"I'm not going to abandon you to the mercies of this world," Crystal said. "You rescued me and I intend to return the favor."

I felt a slight tremor in the floor beneath me that caught me by surprise. A few seconds later, it burgeoned into a full-fledged shaking until the pots and pans clanged against one another, reminding me of an earthquake.

Crystal clung to Puck and they both grabbed me, pulling me into a group hug. I'm as affectionate as the next person, but this was too much for my liking. Blinding light flashed so that it burned my eyes and I closed them against its intensity. A roar like wind whirled around us and my body became weightless and incorporeal for several seconds. I tried to speak, but I couldn't hear myself above the roar of the cyclone that had swept us up in its wake. I couldn't see a thing and couldn't hear anything but the loud rush of wind in my ears. Then, my limbs grew heavy and I felt myself falling, but I also felt Crystal and Puck's grips firmly on my arms.

I fell hard against something, rolling several times because of the speed and strength of what I can only describe as a crash. Every bone in my body felt the pain of a high-impact landing against grassy ground and I lay still for several moments until the nausea and disorientation passed. I opened my eyes and saw a dark, starlit sky above me. A full moon overhead illuminated the scene with its soft light and I fought the pain in my body enough to sit up and look around me. Puck and Crystal stood not far away from me, staring in awe at a levitating figure, frightening and majestic at the same time.

I saw a tall, haughty being staring down at me. He towered over me, his thin, angular features were reminiscent of Puck's, but, much more menacing in their anger. He wore a flowing light gray cape that emphasized the width of his shoulders and the gold and red armor screamed warrior king at me. Pale blue eyes almost the same color as his sky blue skin flashed with anger and I knew I was in deep trouble.

"Oh, crap. I'm not in New York anymore, am I?" 


	5. Chapter 5: Change of Plans

**Saga: The Cat, the Curious and the Coin  
Story: Chapter 5: Change of Plans  
Fandom: Gargoyles **

**Genre: Supernatural/ Drama Rating: PG Characters: Ruby Brandon, Lord Oberon, Puck, Princess Crystal**

**All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of Denigoddess2001.**

**Previously, On Gargoyles...**

I saw a tall, haughty being staring down at me. He towered over me, his thin, angular features were reminiscent of Puck's, but, much more menacing in their anger. He wore a flowing light gray cape that emphasized the width of his shoulders and the gold and red armor screamed warrior king at me. Pale blue eyes almost the same color as his sky blue skin flashed with anger and I knew I was in deep trouble.

"Oh, crap. I'm not in New York anymore, am I?

"Avalon welcomes you, Ruby Brandon," A deep voice boomed down at me. "Oberon welcomes you."

I stared up to see pale blue eyes looking down at me, his right hand extended to me. I noticed a large signet ring adorned his ring finger as he stood akimbo, waiting for my response. I had expected lightning bolts and fireballs fueled by rage and fury, but not this unusual greeting. I glanced over at Crystal who remained still in Puck's embrace, looking for any kind of hint of what came next, but her face was a mask of dread mixed with stoicism. I looked at them, giving a silent shrug, looking for any help they offered, but there was none.

Great, I had to wing it. I looked again at Lord Oberon, studying his features for any cue. I saw only boredom changing quickly to impatience. I didn't know what to do because nothing I had experienced had prepared me for that moment. I took his hand and he helped me to my feet.

"You have transgressed against our will," he began, his brows furrowed with disdain. "What have you to say on your behalf?"

I knew the legends of Oberon enough to know he was arrogant and amoral at best and ruthless at worst. I also thought he was a haughty tin-plated tyrant who needed knocked down a few pegs. I also knew he possessed the ability to wipe out my existence with a thought if he wanted it, so I decided to err on the side of caution. He was my ticket home. When all else fails, when one can't dazzle with brilliance, baffle with flattery.

"Lord Oberon," I bowed my head to hide my contempt. I modulated every word as though I were trying to calm a psychopath. "I thank you for your gracious welcome and your assistance. But, how have I transgressed against your will?"

"You have meddled in our affairs by defying our will," came the cold reply. "You have broken our edict by allowing Puck and Crystal their true forms when we thought it was appropriate that they learn humility and the price of breaking our laws."

"Sir," I was damned if I'd call that son-of-a-bacchae 'my lord.' "I've haven't done that at all."

His eyes widened at my defiance. Damn, I had to remember how to keep my mouth shut. "Oh, really? Then how do they stand before us as they do now?"

"Your curse is still in full-force, Lord Oberon," I said. "Your spell was weakened by iron, but not broken. Puck still wears the chain I charmed. Once it's removed, he goes back to being Owen."

"Hmm," Oberon scowled at me. "Puck, come forward."

I watched the other elf bounce and dance toward his master like a dog wanting to play with his favorite ball. "Take off the chain."

"At once, my lord," Puck implied by unwrapping the paper clips from his forearm. I expected fireworks and dancing flashes of light to circle him before he resumed his natural form. Instead, he remained Puck.

"He still remains as Puck," the underlying displeasure in Oberon's tone made me inwardly shudder.

"He also ate my omelet that I made in a cast iron skillet," I explained. "The magic in that omelet will keep your spell at bay as long as the food is in his system. Once he digests it and it's absorbed and out the other end, he's Owen again."

He nodded once, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "We shall continue this at the castle."

With one dismissive wave of his hand, the beach disappeared around me in a cloak of thick white mist. A gentle breeze blew it away, revealing the great throne room of Oberon's castle. There, on the dais, behind him were two great thrones with rather simple designs. One to the left was a simple highback chair upholstered in red velvet while the larger throne was covered in a soft saffron velvet. I watched him turn away from me, walking to the throne and taking his place. To the right was an ornate mirror with an angular, art deco frame.

He turned to the young woman still holding tightly onto Puck, his eyes narrowed. "And did this mortal witch also revert you to your natural form, Crystal?"

"No, Father. Puck did this for me," I watched the princess step from Puck's embrace to stand on the front steps of the dais, her blue eyes flashing with the same temper that I saw in Oberon's gaze. I knew there was no doubt that she was the Elvin king's daughter. "Ruby was only trying to find a way home because she doesn't have the ability to travel in time. She thought Puck might be able to help her, but we never had a chance to find out because you interfered."

"Silence!" Oberon bellowed. "Because you haven't learned humility or respect, daughter, I see that your original punishment was not sufficient to teach you these traits. A harsher one is in order to teach you humility and obedience."

I watched as Oberon's eyes lost their blue coloring to one of white-hot flame. I knew whatever he had in mind was far worse that Crystal being trapped in the form of a cat. I knew I couldn't stand by and do nothing to the person who had been my friend and confidant for three years, so I did only what I knew to do.

"Belle, Pearl, Opal and Coral,  
Hiram, Oscar, Amadeus and Henry.  
I call upon the blood of my ancestry,  
bringing forth my family tree.  
Oberon seeks vengeance in compassion's stead  
I call upon the blood of my blood,  
of those who are long dead.  
Let not this cruelty be allowed to ensue.  
Imbue with power to not let it continue."

I felt the power of eight generations coursing through my veins as I planted my hands upon the cold marble floor. Eight Wise Women and Men, some centuries dead, heard my call and came to my aid in that moment. There are several rules of magic which are universal. One: energy is energy no matter in what form it appears. Two: Oberon and all of his children are vulnerable to iron. Three: the power of an ancestral bloodline as old as mine is a powerful cache of magic. The power of eight dead witches against one elf is almost an even match. Oberon still outgunned me, but I couldn't let him do more harm to the one person who had seen me out of Hell and back to life.

"That will be enough, Lord Oberon," I said, taking position between him and his daughter. I saw eight hovering specters, four on each side of me, ready to enter combat if I asked it. I would lose my life because my power and mortality were no match for Oberon; it was a lost battle before it had even begun. However, I banked on the hope of spectacle and grandeur to be enough to make him take pause, if only to listen to reason. I didn't know how else to get his attention other than draw upon the most powerful magic I had: a family's love for each other.

"I am Lord Oberon," he said, pounding his fist on the arm of the throne. "I determine what is right and wrong. You have no power here."

"Your daughter owes me a life debt," grabbing at the first thing that came to my mind. All eyes in the throne room turned toward me in shock. Even I wondered, where the hell did that come from? I was winging it, calling up every Lord of the Rings movie, Charmed episode and any other fantasy movie that might have something I could glean from it. "I found her weak and bleeding after giving birth to a litter of kittens at a cat mill. Was it your intent to have your daughter's body used and exploited like that?"

"I do not have to answer to you-" Oberon roared.

"Did you mean to hurt your daughter that way? To have her raped so that some breeder could make a profit from her pain? Is that how you tried to teach her humility?"

"No, of course not!" Oberon stood up, glowering at me. "I'd never do such a thing as cruel-"

"But, you did!" I took a step forward. "You made your daughter vulnerable without her magic, trapped in a form where she couldn't defend herself against predators and you complain about her not having humility. What kind of cruel son-of-a-bacchae are you? I thought you loved all of your children."

"Who are you to judge?" Oberon pointed a finger at me. "How dare you?"

"I dare because I a mother who lost her son and even magic won't bring him back," I looked at him with pain bleeding from every pore in my skin at the memory. "She kept me alive with her love and affection when I went through living hell of losing him. He was only six years old and some jerk who was too drunk to know better stole him from me one night."

"Anger clouds our judgment," Oberon sighed, as if bored of the whole affair. " We grow weary of this. Begone, mortal."

"I can't go anywhere," I reminded him. "You brought me here, remember?"

"So, we did and from this place we will send you," I watched his hand ball into a fist. "Into oblivion."

"Father, no!" Crystal stepped in front of me, shielding me with her body. "Please! This has gone far enough. She only wanted to find a way home and found a way to weaken your spell for a short time. I beg you, Father, to show her mercy."

"You beg?"

"I do," Crystal rushed forward, falling to her knees on the dais before the looming figure of Lord Oberon. "She has loved me as no one has save for Puck and I plead with you to spare her life."

"There was a time, daughter, that you wouldn't have thought of anyone's needs save your own," I saw a smile tug at elf king's features. She buried her hands in her face as she knelt as his feet. He looked over her shoulder at me with a gleaming smile and a wink. I looked a Puck who looked at bewildered as felt. He gave me a helpless shrug that told me he knew no more what that smile and wink meant than I did. "Now, I see you willing to put yourself in harm's way for a mere mortal and this tells me you have learned much."

Crystal's eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at her father. "Please, don't hurt her."

"You have given me much to consider, Crystal, and I will take this plea into account before I pass judgment."

He was going to pass judgment? I felt eight silvery specters move in closer to surround me in a protective circle, ready to unleash magic against magic to protect their only living relative. What had I done that was so horrible other than getting involved in something that wasn't even my doing?

"Ruby Brandon, you have done what I have failed to do. You have taught my daughter to love someone other than herself. While I disapprove of her antics, for her to defy my will to protect one not of her kind and to call you friend is a great step forward indeed. For your cleverness in circumventing the dictates of my enchantment upon Puck, you knew not of the circumstances and were ignorant. That, I can also forgive."

"Father, thank you!" Crystal rose, unexpectedly hugging her father which caught him off guard. His blue eyes widened, but I saw his arms slowly encircle his daughter's form.

"As for you, Puck, you are still eternally banished from Avalon, but if you prove yourself worthy, I may, one day, release you from the enchantment placed upon you."

"As you command, my lord," Puck bowed deeply in gratitude.

"As for you, young lady," Puck looked sternly down at his daughter. "You will remain on Avalon indefinitely for as long as it takes you to learn obedience and deference to your elders."

"Father, I have one thing to ask," Crystal looked into her father's eyes. "We didn't expect all of this to happen and she was caught up in the wake through no fault of her own. Would you please send her back to her own time? Truly, she has brought you and I back together. She has already been through so much and the shop is all she has left of her family as you can see," she motioned toward the eight specters hovering over me. "Please?"

"That we will not do," he said. I looked at Puck and he at me and then we looked at Crystal. "She brought her power against me and must stand accountable for that. Ruby Brandon, from what year do you come?"

"2014," I wasn't going home. I hated Oberon in that moment, but I had little recourse other than to blow myself to kingdom come if I tapped into the powers of my ancestors just to blow him through a castle wall.

"Crystal, what year is it in the mortal world?"

"1998, Father."

"Sixteen years, hmm." Oberon returned to his throne, resting his chin in one hand as if thinking a great plan. "One hour here is a full day in the mortal realm. We do not think it wise to return you to your time so quickly, Ruby Brandon. Instead, we offer you a place here for the eight months and three weeks of our time you need abide until time catches up with itself. Then, you may leave Avalon to return to the outside world at the time which you left it."

"Lord Oberon," I moved past the protective spirits of my family to stand before him. "I don't want to be any more trouble to you or your family. I only want to go home. The store is all I have left and if left too long, I'll lose it."

"If I send you forward in time, it will change things in ways that even we cannot control. You will stay here as our guest for the time stated, then you will be allowed to return home." Oberon turned to his daughter. "The mortal will be your companion and maid. She will also report to me any transgressions you commit in your time here. However, you may take her to the mortal realm from time to time to allow her contact with her family."

"Sir, my family is all dead."

"In 2014, but what of 1998?" Oberon asked. "Is your mother deceased?"

"No," how did he know about my mother? I looked to Crystal and saw her staring at Oberon. Damned telepathic powers she possessed. I had a feeling that she'd just given him my entire life in twenty seconds or less.

"And your son, Ms. Brandon? You said he died at the hands of what my daughter calls a drunk driver?"

"Yes. . ." I wondered what Oberon was thinking at that moment.

"Many believe time is immutable, but I know otherwise. Take this invitation in the spirit which it is meant. I have lost time with my daughter that I cannot regain. Perhaps, taking this time with us on Avalon will allow you the opportunity to regain that which you have lost."

"Ruby, take the offer," Puck flitted about me like a spastic butterfly. "It's a good one and he isn't generous often. Usually ol' blue eyes has has something crawling up his-"

"Puck! Enough." those two words from his master shut up the elf in two seconds. "So speaks Oberon."

I knew I didn't have much of a choice, but he offered me an opportunity that I couldn't pass up: the chance to save my mother and my son. It took me only one second to make up my mind. "Yes, Lord Oberon, I would honored to accept your generous offer."

"Then we welcome to Avalon," he nodded with satisfaction. "And daughter?"

"Yes, Father?"

"Help her in the ways of magic, he talent is woefully underdeveloped. It's pathetic. She is a curiosity and we wish to be kept abreast of her progress"

"Yes, Father."

"I grow weary of this," he gave a wave of his hand. "Leave us. Puck, leave now."

"Yes, my lord," he gave a soulful glance at Crystal. "I love you."

"I love you. We'll be together soon," she promised.

And there I stood on the shores of Avalon with only the clothes on my back and my best friend to guide me. My heart turned to concrete at the fact that I wasn't going home, at least, not yet. I thanked my ancestors for coming to my aid and gave them their leave. Puck vanished, but his longing to be with his one true love left a heavy, tangible ambiance in the air that day.

After that, life took on a new routine in ways I never anticipated, but that's another story for another time. At that point in time, I was Ruby Brandon, handmaiden to Princess Crystal of Avalon.

The end of this tale but not of what was still to come...


End file.
